Going Home

Wanting to know why this group of people, who had specialized in dealing with ghosts while alive, had all gathered in this chat group after death, he figured the three cryptic words "Jialan Society" might be a major breakthrough. They could also have been the name of the organization they founded when they were alive.

A goose left its call behind as it flew past; people, too, left traces behind. As a citizen born in the twenty-first century, Gao Tian didn't believe that not one of these people had left any trace online. The only challenge was figuring out how to uncover information about their lives.

Dozens of pages popped up. Most were about murder mystery games, video games, and anime. It was obvious they weren't what he was looking for.

Gao Tian filtered out the useless results and scrolled to the bottom, where he found an abandoned Tieba forum. It had been registered in 2013 and was called "Jialan Society." The short description beneath the name read:

We are Ghost Hunters who quietly protect the Living Persons by day and fight the Inner World.

Forum owner: Living Person Apartment.

Moderators: Ghost Infant, Ghost Cave, Burning Death Ghost... He recognized each name. He'd already seen some of them in the chat.

Every detail matched. There was no mistake: this forum had been created by the people who had now become ghosts.

Ghost Hunters.

Was that what they'd called themselves when they were alive?

It was almost laughable. A group of people who'd spent their lives fighting ghosts had all become ghosts themselves after death, surviving in a tiny chat group like Evil Spirits too shameful to show their faces.

Hoping to learn more about their lives, Gao Tian didn't hesitate to open the forum homepage.

Looking back, he realized how careless that had been.

His encounter with the Shattered Face Ghost had proved that many ghosts could spread through images and memes. All it took was one look, and they could crawl through the internet to kill you.

If some posts on this abandoned Jialan Society forum had also carried spiritual pollution or a curse, Gao Tian—who had just escaped the Shattered Face Ghost—might have stumbled straight into an even more terrifying Vengeful Ghost.

Whether by good luck or bad, all the posts on the forum had been deleted, leaving only two. Every user who'd followed it had also deactivated their account, leaving behind rows of gray avatars.

"I'm going to retire once this job is done."

Posted by: Ghost Infant.

Posted in: 2017.

Content:

This job could really pay a huge sum.

Once it's over, I'll basically be financially independent. Maybe I should think about retiring.

Is retiring at twenty-five too early?

If I'm no longer a Ghost Hunter, I won't have to deal with these Evil Spirits every day. Would I even get used to living an ordinary life?

What should I do then? Travel around the world, go back to school for a master's degree, or open a bookstore?

Anyway, if I get to do something I truly want to do, just thinking about it makes me excited.

The other post.

"Discovering the Nature of Ghosts in the 'Living Person Apartment' Supernatural Event."

Posted by: Living Person Apartment.

Posted in: 2018.

The content of this post has been deleted. Please check out another post.

The second post had been locked. Only its title remained, and Gao Tian couldn't open it.

He slowly lowered his phone.

The group owner, Living Person Apartment, had gotten that name because he'd once been to the Living Person Apartment.

Had Ghost Infant handled a Supernatural Event called the Ghost Infant? Had Ghost Cave dealt with the Ghost Cave incident, and Burning Death Ghost with the Burning Death Ghost incident?

Could these Ghost Hunters have taken their titles from the most difficult Supernatural Events they'd dealt with in their lives?

It was like how some people got so old they couldn't remember their spouse's or children's names, yet could still clearly recall the year they'd gotten into Tsinghua University.

What a shame. The forum was so old that every user had deactivated their account. One post was Ghost Infant venting, while the other, more important post had been locked.

There was no way to continue the investigation through this lead.

Suddenly, Gao Tian thought of someone.

If he could find a hacker who understood Network Technology, maybe they could unlock the post.

The first person who came to mind was Cao Hua, two years ahead of him at school. Cao Hua had been a legendary figure in high school, winning a silver medal in every information technology competition by his second year. Later, he'd gotten into Shanghai Jiao Tong University through a recommendation. During his first year, he even hacked into the school's academic system and changed his failing PE grade to a perfect score. When he was caught, he'd received a major disciplinary warning.

Gao Tian and Cao Hua had gotten along pretty well. They hadn't been in touch for a while, though, and he wasn't sure whether Cao Hua would help him with this.

Gao Tian searched his contacts, found the familiar number, and called.

Five minutes later, a familiar voice came through the phone. Even over the line, Gao Tian could tell how shameless its owner was:

"Hey, son. It's been ages since you called your dad. What made you think of me all of a sudden?

"You don't call me out of the blue unless you need something. Go on, what is it? Missing a little fatherly love?"

Gao Tian had just gone through a near-death experience and didn't have time to trade barbs with the greasy fatty.

"Cao Ge, I've run into a bit of trouble and need your technical help.

"Help me out, and I'll treat you to dinner afterward."

Cao Hua:

"My son's problems are my problems.

"Spit it out."

Gao Tian asked:

"I found an important post online, but the forum's been abandoned for too long and everything on it has been deleted.

"Is there any way you could help me open it?"

When it came to his area of expertise, Cao Hua stopped joking around and sounded a little more serious:

"I can't guarantee anything, but it's usually possible to recover it.

"If the platform hasn't completely wiped it, I can restore it from server backups and database logs.

"If the platform has permanently cleared it and deleted the backups, then... I should still be able to get it back, but it'll be more complicated."

Gao Tian said:

"Sorry for the trouble, Cao Ge.

"The posts are pretty old. There might not be any backups left on the backend."

Cao Hua replied:

"What kind of father wouldn't care about his son? How about this: send me the link on WeChat first. I'll check it out and get back to you when I have time.

"I'll let you go for now. I'm having coffee with a junior."

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The call ended.

Gao Tian sent Cao Hua the Jialan Society link. For now, that was all he could do. He'd wait to hear back from Cao Hua.

For now, he needed to find somewhere to stay. Where would be a good place to spend the night?

After thinking it over, Gao Tian realized he hadn't been home in a long time. He couldn't go back to his rented apartment, so he'd go home first.

The bus took about an hour before stopping outside a residential complex on the outskirts. Gao Tian got off.

Maybe it was because he hadn't been back in nearly half a year, but the complex where he'd grown up felt strangely unfamiliar as he walked into it again.

At the entrance to the apartment building's first floor hung a crooked sign with something written on it. The writing had long since rusted beyond recognition, and thick ivy covered it completely.

As Gao Tian lowered his head and walked into the building, he saw three young people gathered around a bench in the lobby, playing some kind of card game. One was a silver-haired boy whose eyes were narrowed into slits, another was a girl dressed in Lolita fashion, and the third was a bald young monk in gray robes.

As Gao Tian passed, the girl's shoulders twitched. Even without looking back, he could feel her gaze fixed on his back.

The gray-robed monk kept his eyes on the cards in his hands and didn't look up once.

Gao Tian walked to the elevator shaft. The elevator in this old apartment building only went as high as the Third Floor, and he lived on the Fourth Floor, so he'd have to walk up the final flight.

He pressed the up button. The elevator doors slowly slid apart, and Gao Tian stepped inside.

It had been more than half a year since he'd been home. He'd been away for a long time, and he wondered how his parents would react to his sudden return.

He got out of the elevator on the Third Floor and walked up the stairs to the Fourth Floor. Then he stopped in front of a familiar metal door.

A sticker he'd put on the door as a child had been torn off, leaving only a few marks behind. At last, he felt something familiar.

The door was ajar. Gao Tian gave it a gentle push. Its hinges let out a pained creak as it slowly opened.

The sound of a TV show came from the living room. His father sat on the sofa with his back to Gao Tian.

He could hear someone cooking in the kitchen, probably his mother. She'd also heard the door open, and her voice came from that direction:

"Gao Tian, what brings you home all of a sudden?

"You must be exhausted after all this time. Go rest in your room for a bit. I've kept it for you. I'll set out another place for lunch today."

His father's silhouette remained turned toward the television. He didn't look back. His voice came through, too:

"Tian Tian, weren't you studying for your exams? What are you doing back here all of a sudden?

"Did something happen? Are you short on money? I just sent you this month's living expenses yesterday."

Gao Tian didn't know what to say. The bizarre events of that night—how he'd played a game with a ghost and escaped alive—were too outrageous to believe.

He didn't know whether his parents would believe him. Even if they did, he'd only make them worry for nothing, and there was nothing they could do to help.

All Gao Tian wanted now was a safe place to sleep and recover some of his strength. Then he could take the stiff cardboard off his finger and go to the hospital to have it set.

As he headed toward his bedroom, he casually made an excuse:

"Yeah, some things happened. I might not be able to stay at my apartment for a while.

"I'll go get some sleep first. Don't save me any food, Mom. I hurt my hand a little, too, so I have to go to the hospital this afternoon."

His mother's voice came from the kitchen again:

"What happened to your hand? I've told you to be careful, over and over.

"I'll put your food in the fridge. Your dad and I are going out this afternoon. When you wake up, get it from the Second Floor."

Gao Tian walked toward the end of the hallway. His bedroom was the second-to-last room.

But when he opened the door to the bedroom that should have been so familiar to him, he stared at the scene inside, completely dumbfounded.

This wasn't his bedroom at all.

Whose bedroom was this?